An American Trombonist In London

I spent two nights in England between signing off the ship and flying home to The States. After an overnight in Southampton (sign off port), I took the train to London to hang out for the day. Spent the day with Henry Saxby (a musician who had signed off with me on May 5), his girlfriend, and a couple of his friends who live in London. Henry used to have a steady gig at at piano bar in London and his friends still run the place. It was fun talking to them and learning a little bit about running a music venue from the inside. Nice people and we had a great afternoon at a pub called The Blue Anchor right on the Thames River. 

The terrific weather continued into an absolutely GORGEOUS day on May 7. Some of my friends from the ship came to London for the morning. We met up with a local friend, Jamie, and he showed us all around London. So many highlights, so many hotspots. It was a spectacular morning. Exemplary weather. Flawless company. We saw Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, ate English breakfast, saw Buckingham Palace, checked out Trafalgar Square, toured the West End, visited Picadilly Square, shopped for outrageous souvenirs, visited the saxophone store to beat all saxophone stores, and even had time for a proper English ale in a pub. I just wish this could've lasted longer.

The pictures below tell some of the tale. Some great shots here. The weather…the locations…all amazing. To be fair, however, I'd voluntarily go to an economics lecture if it meant I could spend time with these folks. We all exchanged hugs in the underground train before parting for the last time. Walking off that carriage without them was extraordinarily difficult for me. These are great fuckin' people. Some of them I'll see again very soon. Hopefully, it won't be too long before I see the others. I'm really going to miss them.

A bridge on the Thames near The Blue Anchor.

Fish and chips. Had to do it!

View of the Thames from The Blue Anchor.

The London Eye.

L to R: Marissa, Sam, me, Beau, Suzie, Shannon, Dustin

"Hey kids! Big Ben. Parliament!"

St. Margaret's Church in Westminster's Abbey.

Buckingham Palace.

Awkward single photos.

Me and Shannon.

The gang.

The girls.

A guard.

Flower garden near Buckingham Palace.

Trafalgar Square monument.

Deep down, you can tell the Shannon is a Detroit Lions fan.

Trafalgar Square.

West End. I want to come back for a show (or two).

Beau and Dustin derpin' out in the sax store.

Yes. That's Dustin playing a contrabass saxophone.

And yes. He played "Careless Whisper." #derp

A Detroit Lion in London.

Good friends in the pub.

Still have public telephone booths in London.

All Good Things Must Come To An End

Well, it's over. My second contract as a cruise ship musician, that is. I'll be heading back to Adventure of the Seas in July for another contract, but, for now I'm at the beginning of a long and well deserved vacation. 

Ending a contract is always bittersweet. I've written about the temporary nature of being a crew member before, but, it's important enough to mention again. Especially in this current instance, the awkward feelings of goodbyes are different and palpable in a different way than the last time. My Majesty contract (March - September 2012) was amazing for me. I had an unbelievable time onboard. Loved playing music for a living. Really lucked out with a couple of terrific roommates, saw some beautiful places, and made some great friends along the way. The Adventure contract (October 13, 2012 - May 5, 2013) was the same in many ways, but, felt different to me…probably because I've made a lot of progress as a person since March 2012. Majesty was mostly about getting out of town. Away from painful experiences and people who had done hurtful things to me. I still have the scars from those events, but, those wounds have mended more now. I know this because on the Adventure contract, I was able to become more invested in relationships with other people this time around. By the end of my time on Adventure, I was able to understand that my abilities for personal interaction and trusting others were really starting to get back to a more normal level.

This is made even more noticeable by the fact that it was an intensely tough goodbye this time on my sign off. Not that it hasn't been before or that I don't miss my friends from Majesty, but, this ship was different…and I'm pretty sure that difference was me. For one thing, the cast (singers and dancers) signed on about 1 week after I did in Spain. We work together daily and I developed very close friendships with many of them over the past 6 months. I wasn't part of a cast changeover this time midway thru my contract, so, I've been around the same group of people for the entire length this time. 

The other thing is that given the passage of time, I'm now able to take part in friendships in a more intimate way because I'm getting closer to righting the ship of my life and personality, so to speak. As my good friend Jamie Newnham says, "You're available for more of that now." Well said, that man!

In any case, I'm off the ship now and spending a few days in London doing some sightseeing before I head back to the States. Again, as much as I'm looking forward to my vacation it was very difficult to leave the Adventure. Nothing lasts forever and even if I was still onboard AD people would be signing off and new people signing on…the continuing fluctuation of personnel would roll on. Things would change with or without me anyway. What I can say is that I'm happy to have had the opportunity to share experiences with all my friends onboard. I'm thrilled to have met all of you and hope that we get the chance to see each other again sometime soon. 

A dancer onboard and one of my good friends, Kieran, said something to me the other night that I won't ever forget. It was wise, cryptic, gloomy, and gratifying all at the same time. He said, "This group of people here. This will never happen again. We'll never all be together again at the same time." How true. Made me recognize how special it was to be a part of it while I had the chance. He's right, we probably won't all be together all at the same time again. Ever. Individually, I know I'll see some of these people again. But, the circumstance of all of us together in the same place at the same time is most likely over.

I'm not very good at saying goodbye. It's certainly not my favorite thing to do. Just like at the end of last contract, I offer a peek into my life for the last 6 months. Just paste the link below into your favorite browser and the video slideshow should start playing automatically. It's a big file (over 20 minutes long), so, probably best to be viewed on a high speed connection.

Until next time, everybody. Stay in touch and safe travels. I miss you all already!

Walkabout: Chapter Two

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/60443309/Walkabout%20Chapter%20Two.m4v

The Gas Station in the Atlantic

To make use of an overly used cliché bloggers line…"It's been a long time since I've posted."  This is true. However, I haven't felt the need until now. We finished up the Caribbean season and are in the middle of a crossing to the other side of the Atlantic. I guess there's some stuff to write about there, but, basically it's the same trip that I made in November of 2012…just in the opposite direction. There's more to be posted about the last month and a half of my contract regarding people, places, and more people, I guess. I'm going to wait until I arrive in England to start those posts, though. What's important now in my mind is our stop at The Azores after 5 straight sea days.

The Azores are Portugese islands that are located about 2/3rds of the way across the Atlantic from North America to Europe. Formed by volcanos, these islands are famous for seafood, sugar beets, and a pair of inland lakes surrounded by legend. The lakes were actually formed in mountain craters created by collapsed volcanos and are now filled with fresh collected rain water. The twin lakes, located directly adjacent to one another, are colored differently and are located at the bottom of a beautiful valley. Since it was our (and likely mine) only stop during our Atlantic crossing, a group of friends and I decided to take a guided tour of the island and the famous lakes.

After an amazing morning and early afternoon walking tour and meal, we boarded the tour bus and took off for the afternoon. The tour was perfect for me. A modern bus with air conditioning and comfortable seats. A short tour with a focused goal: to see the lakes and get back to the ship on time for sail away. The tour was awesome. I saw some incredible views and got another chance to hang with some amazing people, some of whom I won't see again for a long time. More on that later and the transformation of this contract and it's effect on the Walkabout and my personal journey. For now, enjoy some terrific views that I had the opportunity to capture with my camera and iPad. You know…sometimes it's true…I have the greatest job in the world.

View from the first photo stop on the tour

Group shot

The girls: Marissa, Suzie, and Shannon

The Hook 'Em Horns

Twin lakes. Legend says that they were formed from

the tears of a priest and princess crying while 

saying goodbye.

Dude Pic. Sam, me, Beau, and Dustin.

Group pic in front of the lakes. What a great day!